Doesn't Fall Far
by Mattiewilda
Summary: There's a reason the old adage, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree" has stuck around for so long. Eric and Angela reflect on their teen years after Georgia gets herself into a messy situation. Another story set in my Where You Least Expect It universe.
1. Chapter 1

_Hi, everyone. Um...so, yes, it's been a while since I last published anything. I'm very sorry about that. I had my butt kicked by pneumonia and am still dealing with residual side effects from that. It's not fun, definitely avoid it if you can._

 _Like the summary states, this story takes place in the same alternate universe as my story, **Where You Least Expect It**. This is essentially a flash-forward. While there are no specific plot points given away for the upcoming sequel, **Good Things Come** (coming very soon, I promise), you do get a glimpse of how everyone ended up- at least family wise. If that is not something you want spoiled, I understand passing on this one for right now._

 _As I've stated before, the ideas for **Where You Least Expect It** and everything that followed began well before **Girl Meets World** was announced publicly and I was dozens of chapters in before the show ever started. I've more or less known from the beginning where the characters will end up. I'm only saying this because Cory and Topanga's daughter will make an appearance in this story, but she is not Riley. Her name is Willow. Any similarities to Cory and Topanga's lives on **Girl Meets World** is merely a coincidence._

 _There is going to be one more chapter after this, potentially two. I'm still in the final editing stages and trying to determine if the last bit works as one chapter or if it needs to be broken up._

 _The sequel to **Where You Least Expect It** is coming, I promise. I just wanted to ease myself back into writing/editing with a short story after not being in front of my computer for such a long time being sick._

 _Hope you enjoy. :-)_

* * *

"I don't understand. How could Trevor do this to me?" Fifteen year old Georgia Matthews choked back the lump in her throat and tried to remain focused on the road. She hadn't had much practice driving at night and the headlights from other cars were exceptionally bright. "A month ago he asked me to be his girlfriend and now he's kissing Kendra?" She furiously wiped away a stray tear. "I thought he really liked me."

"Do you want me to get Wyatt to scare him a little," her friend, Abby, asked from the back seat. "You know, beat him up for you?"

She shook her head and tightened her grip on the steering wheel of her father's car. If anything happened to it she'd be dead- especially since her parents didn't know she had the car out to begin with. "That's not going to help."

"Sure it will. Wyatt was undefeated on the wrestling team last year."

"As much fun as it is to imagine, beating up Trevor does nothing."

"So get even. Get another guy and make him jealous."

Georgia glanced at her best friend in the passenger seat. She and Jasmine had been inseparable since the day they met in second grade. "I don't think so."

"Come on, Gia, there are tons of guys just waiting to ask you out."

"I don't want a ton of guys. I wanted Trevor."

"He doesn't deserve you," the last of their foursome, Brenna, spoke up from the back. "Why waste your time on some guy who does that to you?"

"Maybe he'll change his mind," Georgia replied in a small voice. "He'll see how wrong Kendra is for him."

"Do you really want to be some guy's second choice?"

"But I was his first choice! If anyone's second it's Kendra."

"And if he comes back to you that will make you third."

She shook her head and stared at the bumper of the car in front of her. "I just want to go home and forget this night ever happened."

"Come back to my house. My parents are gone until tomorrow."

"Thanks, Bren, but I need to get the car back before _my_ parents get home. They think I was hanging out at Jasmine's. If they find out I have dad's car they'll kill me."

"They don't know you took the car?"

"Hello, I only have my permit. I don't turn sixteen for eleven more days." She drummed her hands on the steering wheel. "Come on, why is there traffic at this time of night? Screw it, I'm going around him."

"But you're not supposed to go in that la-"

"Relax. I've seen my mom go into this lane to get around cars all the time. I know what I'm doing."

/

/

"All right, Eric, fess up. How much did you pay the mayor to get him to give you your own official day?"

He tossed a chunk of bread across the table, hitting Shawn on the shoulder. "I happen to be very popular. People love me. The mayor practically begged me- said it would boost the morals of the city." He looked to Angela and frowned. "That doesn't sound right."

"Morale, babe." She wrapped her arm around him and kissed his cheek. Eric had been so excited to share the news he dashed home between broadcasts to tell her and the kids. She was so happy for him and could barely restrain herself from bragging to every person they saw- friend or stranger. "Tell them the best part," she urged.

"You mean there's more than there ceremony with the mayor publicly declaring your day? Do you get the ceremonial giant key to the city, too?"

"When is this, by the way," Topanga asked, taking out her phone.

"It will be sometime either next month or the beginning of October. I had to say no to the first date he tossed out because of Sidonie's birthday. I don't think she'd want daddy taking over on her special day."

"Although she'd love a large group of people together to celebrate with," Angela commented. "Attendance for this is mandatory," she said, pointing to everyone at the table. "I don't care what you have to cancel or reschedule or rearrange. If kids need notes for school I will provide them. If Morgan can fly in from California there's no excuse for you guys to miss it."

"Morgan's flying in," Cory asked, amazed. His sister was usually so busy with her career that seeing her for holidays wasn't always a guarantee. "Well, duh, like we would miss it. So what is this best part you mentioned?"

"Normally these official days come with honorary street naming, too, and-"

"They're naming a freaking street after you," Jack exclaimed.

"No, I-"

"Shut up and listen."

He smiled at Angela and squeezed her hand before continuing. "I asked him to name the street after Feeny instead. He deserved it about a million times more than I ever will."

Everyone at the table grew quiet. It had only been a few years, but they would never be used to a world without the wisdom of Mr. Feeny.

"That's really nice, Eric."

"Yeah, he does deserve it." Topanga carefully dabbed the corner of her eye with her napkin. "He would kill you and act like he didn't want all of the attention…"

"…but secretly he'd love it."

"Exactly."

"Which street," Cory asked; speaking up once he was confident he wouldn't become emotional.

"It's going to be the stretch in front of the middle school: _George Feeny Way_."

"That's fitting. Mr. Feeny's way was usually the right way."

"And he did devote so much of his life to his students."

"It's perfect."

"I propose a toast," Rachel said, raising her glass. She may have only had Mr. Feeny as a teacher for a semester or two in college after his failed attempt to return as a student, but she still learned a great deal from the man, as did her kids. "To Mr. Feeny."

"May his lessons continue to live on and may we forever teach our children to not just do well, but to do good."

/

/

"Evan, please don't call my parents. _Please_."

"I'm not."

Georgia threw her arms around him. "Thank you. See," she said to her friends, "I told you he was cool."

"Don't go throwing me a parade just yet." He pushed her away and moved to inspect the front end of his Uncle Eric's car. After receiving the frantic call, assessing the situation, and realizing that no one was hurt, he agreed to the tow on one condition- parents were called. Now, however, Georgia was trying to skimp on her end of the deal. "I'm not calling- you are."

"But-"

"Gia, you're going to be in enough trouble as it is. You don't want to add lies on top of it. Trust me. I speak from experience. Lying doesn't make things better. You can't fix this by yourself unless you have the money to replace the tire, and no, I'm not loaning you a tire from the shop. You've also got these gouges on the front bumper that would need to be sanded down and repainted."

"They're going to kill me. And I can forget getting my license. I'll be twenty-five and still being driven around by mommy and daddy."

"I don't think so."

"Really?" She shot a hopeful look to her friends, but they only shrugged.

"Lucia will have her license by that point, maybe Sidda, too. So you'll be twenty-five and driven around by your baby sisters."

Georgia rolled her eyes. "You're so hilarious." She kicked a small rock on the garage floor, wincing when it hit a hub cap. "This night just sucks. I'd kill for a time machine to erase this whole thing."

/

/

"...and having to start all over again in a few weeks with preschool and kindergarten..." Angela shook her head. "...we met some of the parents at Back to School Night. A few of them look young enough to be our kids."

"At least none of them thought we were Sidda or Rosie's grandparents," Eric added. "I know that happened to mom and dad when Josh was a kid."

"Okay," Topanga jumped in, "That's enough with this old talk. We are _not_ old."

"You'll have to excuse the wife," Cory said. "She's a little sensitive about age right now. How old is this new, hotshot lawyer the firm hired?"

She glared at her husband. He knew better. "Do you have any idea how dangerously close you are to sleeping on the couch tonight?"

"I'm sorry. I love you….and you're pretty."

She sipped her wine before continuing. "I'm not sensitive. I just don't need some twenty-seven year old named Poppy telling me how to do my job. The ink on her diploma hasn't even dried yet. Seriously, come on, _Poppy_? How can they expect our clients to put their trust into someone named Poppy?"

"I don't think people named Topanga get to question the names of others."

"Shut up, Shawn."

Jack shook his head and laughed. "Speaking as the oldest person at this table, I say we forget this age thing. You're only as old as you feel."

"I'll drink to that," Rachel said.

"Here, here," Naomi chimed in.

"And Rachel and I do have some good news to share." He glanced at his wife to be sure she didn't want to be the one to tell, but she nodded her approval. "Nina got a part in the off-Broadway musical she auditioned for. She's one of the background dancers and in the chorus."

"Oh, that's terrific!"

"Yay, Nina!"

"She's pretty excited. Although, she was obviously hoping for a bigger part, this has made her more determined to commit to her lessons."

"That's so great."

"When she told Evan he threatened to be at the stage door every night so no guys can ask for an autograph or phone number."

"I fully support that."

"Jack…"

"Give it up, Rach, there's not one guy at this table that isn't on board with Evan's idea."

"Right, between us four guys there are six daughters involved. You're not winning this."

She rolled her eyes at Eric's comments. "Please, right now the only guy Nina has her eyes on is a little gold one named Tony. She is determined to win one by the time she turns twenty-five. Angela, please set up a camera so I can watch his reaction to Georgia's first date. I doubt it'll top Jack's fit at Nina's first date, but if anyone could beat it it's him."

"Oh, I wish I would've thought to do that a few weeks ago. He almost cried."

"I did not!"

"Don't worry, babe, it was sweet." Angela turned her attention back to the table. "He spent the whole night moping and looking at old pictures."

"I wanted to be sharpening the butcher knife when the kid came to pick her up, but you wouldn't let me. All that was left was moping."

"Eric, do we really need to revisit the last time you used the butcher knife? You're lucky you still have all your fingers."

"I was home alone with Sidonie and Rosie and got distracted when one of them woke up crying," he said in an attempt to defend himself. "It happened over three years ago. Let it go." He held up his left hand. The doctor in the emergency room said it was probably his wedding ring that saved his finger. "And I thought you liked my scars, said they gave me a hint of danger."

"Klutzy danger."

"What a second, when the hell did my little munchkin start dating?"

"Cory-"

"The guy's not a punk, is he," Shawn asked.

She sighed. "No, Trevor seems like a nice kid. He was in Georgia's algebra and chemistry classes last year."

"Yeah, I'm sure he's got some equations and chemistry experiments in mind."

"Cory!"

"I work with teenagers," he elaborated. "They can be incredibly smart and shockingly stupid at the same time. That is a dangerous combination."

"You do realize that Willow will be thirteen in less than a month."

"Yes, and that scares the hell out of me."

Naomi shook her head and laughed. "You know we always promise that we're not going to talk about the kids, but this is where we always end up. These dinners are supposed to be a kid-free zone." Though the couples always intended to get together once a month, it rarely worked out that way. With kids, jobs, and life in general…it just didn't happen. Usually, one or two pairs would have to cancel when something would come up and once a month usually turned into every few months. The summers were a bit easier since there was no school, but this was their last outing of the summer. Hopefully everyone would be able to make the Labor Day barbecue at Amy and Alan's.

"If it's a competition," Shawn said to his wife, "we win. We've managed not to mention Levi once tonight."

"You mean until you blew it just now?"

"Uh…yeah."

"That's because there's nothing to tell. All he does is stare at a screen. If he bothers to talk to us at all, it's in monosyllabic form."

"What did you expect when you married Mr. Monosyllabic?"

"Hey! I talk…when I want to. Right now Levi's just being his own version of a fourteen year old butthead. Fortunately I speak teenage butthead."

"He is starting high school in a few weeks. I'm sure nerves are part of it."

"Probably, but he's still spending the next week down here helping out Uncle Mike at the garage whether he wants to or not. It's one way to get him to come up from video game coma."

"I can't believe your uncle is still running the garage. Isn't he almost seventy?"

"He says he'll retire the day after his funeral. Besides, Evan does most of the heavy work now."

"Mike- and that garage- was a godsend," Jack said. Evan never did develop a liking for school. He always felt like he was a few steps behind other kids in his grade. By the time he hit high school getting him to show up for class at all was a struggle and he started hanging around with questionable influences. Then he had shop class and discovered he had quite the knack for building and fixing. Jack and Rachel were so happy he'd found something to be enthusiastic about and asked Mike if Evan could help him out around the garage on weekends. It went so well he eventually made his great-nephew a deal: finish high school and become certified as a mechanic and he'd be brought on fulltime. That deal most likely saved him from an uncertain future.

"He's a little rough around the edges," Shawn added, "but Uncle Mike's always been a decent guy."

"Gee, do you think he'd let Willow work at the garage," Cory asked, rolling his eyes. "Maybe that would keep her busy."

"What do you mean?

"All Willow can talk about is her thirteenth birthday next month and almost being a teenager," Topanga lamented. "Then that gets her talking about high school. She wants to bypass eighth grade completely and wishes I would've induced labor a few days earlier so she would've been born before the cutoff. It drives her insane that her birthday is on the second."

"Why?"

"If her birthday was even a day earlier, she would be starting high school this year. She actually tried to plead her case with the district superintendent. She made pie charts, diagrams-"

"A future lawyer in the making?"

Topanga smiled at Angela's comment. Her daughter was so much like Cory, but every once in a while the Lawrence genes kicked in and it was like looking in a mirror. "After her little presentation, the superintendent took me and Cory aside and said he'd be willing to make an exception for Willow if she could pass an entrance exam- but we declined. Don't ever tell her about that. We just told her it's a blanket policy, no exceptions for late birthdays. She is very smart, but no way is she emotionally mature enough for high school. Our little guppy would be eaten alive."

"I certainly hope Donovan is less drama than his sister."

Cory tried to come up with the best way to sum up their ten year old. "Donny is…he's Donny. He still loves his comic books, soccer, and board games. He's the happiest, most agreeable kid I've ever met- well, aside from not quitting on asking for a dog no matter how many times we say no. Nothing throws him. He just rolls with the punches." The proud father chuckled before adding, "He gets it from me." He was confused when everybody at the table, his own wife included, double over with laughter. "What?"

"Cor, I've known you your whole life and shared a room with you for a few too many years. You may be happy and sometimes upbeat, but everything throws you off and you roll with nothing! You fight change until the very bitter end."

"That is not true! Topanga, you're a lawyer. Defend me."

Shawn didn't feel like listening to Cory try and convince everyone how calm and laid back he was. "Jack, Rachel, what are Calum and Milo up to?"

"You mean besides being girl-crazy teenagers," she said sarcastically. "I can't wait for school to start up again so Milo pays attention to something more than his girlfriend. At least Calum is serious enough about school that he wanted to take classes over the summer. It gives him something else to focus on."

"Yeah, sure, he gets to focus on the girls in his class," Eric suggested with a smirk.

"I didn't even think about that. And his lab partner the entire term was a girl."

"Okay, okay- Angela, Eric, you already talked about Georgia. What's new with her sisters?"

"Well, Lucia is…" Before Angela could answer the question her phone began to vibrate on the table. She checked the Caller ID. It was Georgia. "Hi, sweetie," she said into the phone. "Are you spending the night at Jasmine's or do you want me and dad to pick you up on our way home?"

Eric watched as the color drained from his wife's face and her happy, casual demeanor disappeared. "What? What's wrong?"

"What do you mean you took the car?!"

"She what?" They had driven Angela's car to the restaurant. That meant the car she took was… "What the hell is she doing with my car?"

"Wait-wait…are you hurt? Is anyone hurt?" She exhaled. "Okay. Don't move. Dad and I will be there soon."

Eric was already on his feet as Angela gathered her purse. "What happened?"

"All I know right now is Georgia went back home and snuck your car out of the garage after we left and drove her friends to a party."

He didn't know how that translated to having to ask if anyone was hurt. "And?"

"She blew out the front tire and ended up in a ditch." She checked the table and made sure she had everything. "She and her friends are with Evan at the garage."

"How did Evan get involved," Jack questioned.

"She called him to tow the car. I'm not sure of the details." She grabbed onto Eric's arm and stared at him, trying both to steady her own nerves and get a read on his. His expression, however, was blank. "Georgia says she's okay, but…"

"Go," Topanga urged. "We'll get the check and meet up with you guys."

/

/

"No way, he is totally cuter!"

Willow yanked the tablet away. "You are insane and obviously know nothing about how the music business works," she fired back at Lucia with certainty. "If your favorite is so cute, why do they stick him all the way in the back playing keyboards where no one can see him, huh? The best and cutest members of bands are up in the front playing guitar or singing. It's a fact."

"I bet my dad could get us tickets to their concert, maybe backstage passes, too."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and we wouldn't have to beg him or my mom or your parents to take us. We'll just make Georgia do it."

"She is going to freak when she's finds out we know she took your dad's car."

"I know, she'll want to kill us, but-"

"We will own her."

The girls wore identical grins as they imagined all the places they could make Georgia chauffer them to. Concerts, the mall, the movies, friends' houses…the possibilities were endless. They could make her drive back and forth from here and New York City just for fun.

"I wonder if-"

 _Thud._

"Shh." Lucia shushed her cousin tried to place the sound. She found her little sister, Sidonie, crouched down behind a chair with one of their cats cradled in her arms. "Sidda! I thought you and Rosie were taking a bath. How long were you back there?"

She leapt to her feet. "I don't know. I didn't learn my time yet. I was just looking to see where Frosty was hiding."

"Why was your cat hiding in my bedroom?"

"You can ask him, but he won't answer."

"What did you hear us talking about?"

"Music and boys." Sidonie blushed before she gave into the giggles and hid her face behind the cat. "Willow, who's Brody?"

"Sidda, you're dead!" Willow jumped up and chased her little cousin around the room.

"Tess," Lucia called out to the baby-sitter, her little sisters' baby-sitter, that is. She was twelve and far too old for one. "Sidda's spying on me and Willow! _Again_!"

"I am not! I was looking for Frosty."

"I thought you were getting some toys for the bath," Tess asked, appearing in the doorway.

She looked everywhere except at the sitter. "I-um…I was-"

"Sticking your big nose where it doesn't belong," Lucia finished.

"I-"

"Sidda, bath."

"But, I-"

"Come on. Rosie's waiting for us." She held out her hand.

"But-"

" _Now_. And you two," she said, turning to Lucia and Willow, "stay out of trouble."

"Trouble, what trouble?"

It was all she could do not to laugh at their feigned innocence. Like most twelve year olds, they were terrible liars. "You wouldn't have been so upset with Sidda being in here if you weren't hiding something."

"What are you basing this on," Willow challenged. "You have no evidence."

"Like I said, stay out of trouble."

/

/

"You guys will still visit me, right," Georgia asked her friends. "You'll let me know what's going on in the world?"

"What are you talking about?"

"As soon as my parents get here I'll be grounded until I'm so old the only I.D. to look forward to is a senior citizen's bus pass."

"My grandma's got one of those. The fare is reduced."

"That's so not the point right now! I'm never going see the light of day again."

"Georgia? Georgia?!"

She winced when she heard her parents. They were going to kill her. They were going to kill her in front of her friends and there was nothing she could do to stop it. "Mom, dad," she began when she saw them, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"Time out," Angela said.

"What?"

"No, I'm calling a time out on this, on whatever happened. It can wait until we get home." Like her father had done when she was a child, Angela and Eric continued the tradition with their daughters. Before any major punishment was handed out or any riot acts read there would be a time out. It was normally no more than a few minutes, but long enough for them to keep calm and remind their children that no matter the punishment they were still loved. Right now, however, she was using the pause to be grateful Georgia was okay. That was even more true after seeing the current state of Eric's car. The damage was slightly more severe than a blown front tire. "Come here."

She shot a confused look at her friends before going to her mother. Things made even less sense when she found herself wrapped in a hug. Still, Georgia found it difficult to maintain her composure once in her mom's embrace. "I'm sorry, mom."

"What were you thinking," she asked, unable to keep the emotion out of her voice.

"Someone sent me a text- a picture of Trevor kissing and dancing this girl named Kendra. I had to see if it was true."

 _Cory and Shawn were right: Trevor was a good for nothing little punk._ Angela sighed and held her daughter tighter. For now she would be grateful that she was safe. "You're okay...physically? You're not hurt? None of you are hurt?" She looked to Georgia's friends.

"We're fine, Mrs. Matthews."

"Okay. Go outside and Evan's parents will drive you three home. You've all met Jack and Rachel countless times before." The girls nodded and stood.

"I'll walk them out," Evan said.

"Oh, girls?" They turned around just before vacating the garage. "I will be calling all of your parents tomorrow morning to let them know you were dumb enough to get in the car with an unlicensed driver behind the wheel."

"Yes, Mrs. Matthews."

Once they were alone Angela looked at Eric and found him crouched down in front of his SUV. He hadn't said anything to Georgia, barely even looked at her, since they arrived. He'd been acting odd ever since they got Georgia's call. "Eric?"

"My car…"

"Dad, I'm so sorry."

He ran his hand along the jagged cracks in the bumper. "Alexandria, what did they do to you, girl?"

"Alexandria?"

"Don't worry, no one but me is ever going to touch you again."

"Oh, god, mom, I think I broke him."


	2. Chapter 2

**_There is going to be one more chapter after this one. One that will primarily be conversations between Angela and Georgia and Eric and Georgia. So, if you're thinking that Georgia is getting off kind of light in this chapter, there's still a little more to come. This chapter is actually totally different from how I envisioned it. Most of this was written as backstory, so to speak, for me. I was mainly going to focus on Georgia and her antics, but it was fun with the younger kids involved and in the end I had trouble editing the parts out. :-)_**

 ** _To answer a few questions I received in the previous chapter: Cory/Topanga, Shawn/Naomi and their families still live in New York. Jack and Rachel live...close to New York and Philly, lol. (Haven't gotten a "feel" for them, but that they moved back and live relatively close to everyone.) The group attempts to get together once a month for dinner, but is not always successful due to kids, jobs, and life in general._**

 ** _Thank you so much for your feedback and messages and endless patience. :-)_**

* * *

"I suggest it was Professor Plum, with the lead pipe, in the conservatory."

"Oh, you know, Willow, that is a very good guess, but…" Tess leaned over and showed her card with the picture of the girl's chosen weapon. "…not quite, kid."

"But I was so sure! Let me guess again."

"It's my turn." Lucia picked up the dice and was about to roll when the back door slammed. "What the-" Before she could even wonder what was happening she saw her sister rushing out of the kitchen and heading for the stairs with their parents hot on her heels. She and Willow jumped up and ran to the doorway.

"Where do you think you're going," Eric asked. "Get back here."

"Georgia, go to your room. We'll talk about this later."

"No, not later. We're talking now."

"Eric..." Angela sighed and rubbed her temples. Between the two of them he was usually the calmer, more relaxed parent in situations where discipline was required. When something major happened with their girls, however, he tended to overreact. It was as though he saved it all up for the big things while allowing her to get upset over the smaller stuff. "We need to talk this out first."

"So which is it," the teen asked after an extended silence, leaning against the railing. "Stay here or go to my room?"

"If I were you I'd be keeping my mouth shut, young lady."

"Sorry, kinda figured I didn't have anything left to lose at this point."

"Eric?" She heard the knocks at the front door and opened it to Cory, Topanga, Shawn, and Naomi. They drove down together and had come to collect Willow before going to Amy and Alan's to pick up their sons.

"I'm not saying anything to you that I won't say to her."

"Then we at least need to talk it over in private."

He looked around, realizing how many people were in the house staring them. Most of them didn't even live here. He'd have to get rid of the extras first. "Georgia, go to your room."

She definitely wasn't going to argue the chance to get away. She barely made it a few steps before almost wiping out.

Topanga winced watching her niece's clumsy attempt to escape. "Munchkin, take the heels off first and _then_ go up the stairs." She shook her head. "Poor kid is all discombobulated."

"Poor kid nothing. You saw what she did."

"Willow, get your stuff together," Cory said to his daughter. "We still need to pick up Donny and Levi from grandma and grandpa's before heading home."

"What's going on?"

"That's none of your business. Just get your stuff."

"Okay." She and Lucia went to the living room, whispering to each other.

"Is something wrong," Tess asked Eric and Angela.

"Georgia took daddy's car," Sidonie answered in a matter of fact manner.

Eric looked around when he heard his daughter's voice and saw her sitting on the stairs. "How did you know that?"

"I heard Luci and Willow talking."

"You did?"

"Uh-huh." She nodded. "It was before my bath. I was looking for my bath toys and they were whispering because Luci heard Georgia on the phone."

"Really? Oh, Lucia, Willow, come in here, please."

"We're getting Willow's stuff, dad."

" _Now_."

"I'm so sorry," Tess apologized. "You'd think I would've heard her getting the car from the garage."

"It's okay. We dropped Georgia off at her friend's house. Who would've thought that she'd sneak back over to take the car?"

"Still, I should've heard something. Do you want me to put Sidda back to bed?"

"No, I think we'll take it from here," Angela handed the girl some money, being sure to include a generous tip to put her mind at ease. "And don't worry. None of this is your fault."

"Tell you dad I'm kicking his butt at the interstation tournament next weekend," Eric joked. Ever since Max took a job at a competing station they rarely got to hang out.

She smiled. "I'll let him know to bring his A game. Good night."

"What dad," Lucia asked, stomping back into the entryway with her cousin.

"Did you know Georgia was going to take the car tonight?"

Her eyes grew wide. "Uh...um-I...Georgia took the car?"

"Don't even try playing innocent. Did you know your sister was going to take my car?"

"Yes, she did, daddy. I already tell you that."

"Sidda!"

"Sidonie, go back to bed."

She slinked down the stairs instead. "But I'm being a helper right now, mommy. You want to know what else?"

Angela sighed. Helper was not exactly the word she would use to describe her five year old at the moment. "What, sweetie?"

"Luci and Willow said they were going to send Georgia black letters in the mail."

"Black letters in the mail? What does that…oh, blackmail? You two were planning to blackmail Georgia?"

"Where did you two even learn about how to blackmail someone," Cory wondered out loud. "You know what, don't answer. I don't think I want to know."

"Blackmail is a felony," Topanga said. "It's punishable by heavy fines, probation, or even jail time. Did you think about that?"

Sidonie shrieked and jumped back when both her sister and cousin moved towards her. She dashed for the adult that was farthest away from the line of fire, her Uncle Shawn, and hid behind his leg. "Save me, Uncle Shawn."

"Sidda, you're a fink," Willow said.

"I do not stink! I took a bath tonight. _With_ bubbles."

Shawn nearly doubled over laughing, but picked the girl up. He'd been finding this whole exchange rather amusing. None of this drama had anything to do with his kid. Life was good. "No, Sidda, you don't stink, but you are a _fink_."

"What's that?"

"A tattletale, blabbermouth, squealer, snitch, snoop, a narc…"

"Shawn, that's enough."

"…a rat, stool pigeon, weasel, a whistle-blower, a no good…"

"Shawn!"

He remembered he was talking to a five year old. "Basically, kid, you need to learn to keep your big mouth shut."

"But I'm telling the truth. And telling the truth is a good thing, right? All the grown-ups always say to tell the truth."

He looked around at the rest of the "grown-ups" in the room. "Okay, I'm tagging out of this game."

Eric stepped forward and took his daughter. "Come on, Sidda, time for bed."

"What the hell were you thinking," Naomi whispered to Shawn, smacking his arm. "She's five."

"But, daddy," Sidonie protested, "I have to tell the truth one more time."

"Only if the truth is you were in my room on purpose to spy on us." Lucia crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. She was already in trouble. Yelling at her sister wouldn't change that.

"No, I wasn't."

"Are you telling the truth now?"

Her small hands played with the collar of her father's shirt. "Maybe not. I did want to hear what they were talking about."

"Sidonie-" He and Angela had had countless conversations about minding her own business and respecting people's privacy. It hadn't seemed to stick yet. On the other hand, she was right- she was telling the truth, at least mostly. Were they supposed to punish her for that?

"But I was only sneaky because they closed the door on me and were keeping secrets."

"Bed. Now."

"But I need to tell Uncle Cory and Auntie Toto my one more truth."

They both perked up while Willow sulked in the corner. "What is it, honey?"

"Willow kissed a boy!" She promptly dissolved into giggles and buried her face in her hands.

Cory whipped around to look at his daughter. "You what?"

"Your first kiss," Topanga asked. She had always tried to maintain an open relationship with her daughter and thought for sure she would've heard about this firsthand.

Willow leaned against Lucia. "Forget killing Sidda. Could you just kill me instead?"

"You want me to do it in the conservatory with the lead pipe?"

"Whatever gets the job done, Professor Plum."

"Who was it? What boy?"

"His name is Brody, Uncle Cory."

"The kid in the house across the alley? Where was this kiss? On the hand? On the cheek? Willow, don't make me keep guessing."

"It was right on the mouth!"

"Eric, take her upstairs," Angela said.

"But, mommy-"

"No. You are done helping and spilling everyone's secrets."

"Daddy-"

"Let's go, blabbermouth. Bed." He put her over his shoulder and climbed the stairs. "I'm dropping you off at your door and you're going straight to bed. Quietly. Don't wake up Rosie."

"You're not going to tell me any stories?"

"I think you've told enough tales for tonight." He set her down in front of her door. "Go to bed."

"Can I ask you one question?"

"What?"

"Why were you and mommy getting mad at me? I didn't do nothing wrong. I told the truth. That's a good thing, daddy. You are always supposed to tell the truth."

"We will talk about it tomorrow."

"I'm going to make sure you remember."

He chuckled and turned her around so she was facing her door. "I know you will. Goodnight."

/

"Shawn, why are you laughing? Nothing about tonight is funny."

"Angela, are you kidding me? It's hysterical. Don't get me wrong, that's mainly because no one was hurt in the minor car accident, but still. I'm having fun."

Cory eyed his friend cautiously. "How can you be having fun?"

"You guys don't see it?"

"See what?"

"You've created clones, man! Georgia sneaking the car out of the house- and screwing up while doing it- was a total Eric move. And come on, Cor, I'm pretty sure we tried to blackmail him a time or two. Your parents just usually found out about it before it went too far. And Willow…" Shawn put his arms around Cory and Topanga. "She's your daughter. What did you expect?"

"What does that mean?"

"Topanga, how old were you and Cory when you kissed him for the first time?"

Under less stressful circumstances she would've smiled as the memory came rushing back to her. She didn't know she was going to kiss him until she had him up against the lockers. "We were twelve…just like Willow."

"I rest my case. Not that I think we'll be dancing at her wedding in seven or eight years, but-"

"Shawn, one more word and you'll have to find a new best friend…and another way home."

"But I'm the one who drove."

"Yes, but…" Naomi dug through her purse until she found what she was looking for. "I have your keys."

/

/

Eric paced around his and Angela's bedroom, trying to process what had transpired this evening. One minute he was enjoying a night out with his wife, brother, and friends and the next there's a call from his fifteen year old daughter saying she took the car without permission and got in a -thankfully minor- accident. Then there was everything that happened once he got home. Was there such a thing as emotional whiplash? If so, he had it.

He was about to collapse at the foot of the bed when he spied a suspicious looking lump under the sheets on his side. Eric took a mental inventory of each kid and pet he'd crossed paths with since returning home. There was only one notable absence. "Rosie," he called out gently, "is that you in there?"

"I don't know."

"Rosalind?"

"It's me."

He removed the covers from over her head and smiled at her slightly disheveled state. "Tess said you were sleeping."

"I was, but there was too much loud yelling and doors closing. I got scared awake. You people are very noisy."

"I'm sorry," he said with a laugh. "We didn't mean to wake you up or scare you."

"Say sorry to Winston."

Eric accepted her most prized possession, a hot pink gorilla that hardly ever left her sight. "I'm sorry for waking you up, Winston. Are we cool? I think he's still mad because he won't talk to me."

She held the stuffed animal to her ear. "He says he will forgive you if you promise not to do it again."

"I'll try not to." He lay back against the pillows and closed his eyes. When Rosie snuggled into his side and didn't say anything, he hoped she would be quick to fall back to sleep.

"Daddy?"

He should know by now nothing would be easy tonight. "Yes?"

"Look."

Eric opened his eyes and saw Rosie wiggling her bottom tooth back and forth. He smiled at the proud look on her face. "Very cool. It doesn't look like it's ready to come out yet, so don't force it."

"Am I gonna get money when it falls out?"

Something he appreciated about younger kids was their honesty. Georgia and Lucia were at the age where they wouldn't come right out and say something. They hinted at or alluded to things and made you guess. Sidda and Rosie on the other hand, you knew exactly what they were thinking. All the time, whether you wanted to or not. "Yes."

"Enough for my fish tank?"

For Georgia's fifth birthday, Eric and Angela decided to let her pick a pet and they continued the tradition with each child. The big girl present when they turned five was the pet of their choice that they would learn to be responsible for. Georgia chose a dog while Lucia and Sidonie chose cats. One Mother's day Angela decided she wanted to rescue a husky, similar to one she had for a couple years as a child. And he rounded out the pets when he found a kitten outside the station last year a few months after Thor passed.

Rosalind was still about five months away from her birthday, but she was already planning her pet. She had her heart set on her own dog, but she was fascinated by fish. She loved to go to the pet store with her parents when they needed to buy food and treats because that meant she could stare at the aquariums, hypnotized by goldfish and bettas and guppies galore. A while ago she came up with an idea that would let her get both. She would save all of the money she got- whether it was from chores or the little extras the grandparents and aunts and uncles would toss her way- it all went into her bank so she could buy a fish herself.

"I don't know if it will be enough, but it will help you a lot."

"Okay," she said through a yawn. "Daddy, can I sleep in here?"

"You can fall asleep in here and then I'll carry…" Eric glanced down and saw she was already drifting off. He envied her ability to instantaneously pass out. Sleep definitely wouldn't be coming easy for him tonight. Whenever Eric closed his eyes he saw his front bumper.

"Rosie's up, too," Angela asked when she came into the room a little bit later.

"No, she's been out for a while. I'll carry her back to her bed soon." He looked down and made sure she was really asleep before carefully scooting away and getting out of bed. "She has a loose tooth."

"Really?" Her smile was brief before she realized what it meant. "I'm not ready for that yet. A loose tooth is a big girl thing. She's our last baby. I'd like to still enjoy her being little for a while longer."

"After tonight, I'd like to make all our girls little again. We could have four Rosies."

She wrapped her arms around him and held him tight. "As nice as that sounds in fleeting moments, do you really want a bunch of four year olds at once? Think of how much we hate little kid birthday parties."

"You're the one that doesn't like them."

"Okay, but imagine if the party never ended?"

"That would suck."

"Exactly my point."

"Yeah, but it's easier to protect them when they're little. Georgia- we can't protect her the same way anymore."

"I know. Do you want to talk about it?"

"I wanted to talk when we got home."

"We couldn't- not with everyone here. Talk to me now. Tell me what you're thinking."

"What am I thinking?" He moved away and walked to the other side of the room. "I'm mad."

"At Georgia?"

"At Georgia for doing something stupid and taking my car, at you for stopping me from yelling at her when I wanted to, at Lucia for the blackmail, and Sidda for ratting everyone out."

Angela took a seat and watched as he paced. "You're mad? You want to yell at someone? I'm here. Yell at me. Just don't do it loud enough to wake Rosie."

"You're not the one I want to yell at."

"Come on, I'm sure you could manage if you really try." He remained silent. "Can I say a few things?" He shrugged. "As annoying as it is, Sidda is five and her tattling phase is unfortunately common. If we didn't freak out on her last school year when she decided to tell her teacher all about the novelty handcuffs in our fun underwear drawer, we can't freak out on her for this. We just need to talk _again_ about boundaries, respecting other people's privacy, and minding her own business."

Eric shook his head. Sidda's old teacher is going to be Rosie's. He still couldn't look the woman in the eye. "What about the blackmailer?"

"I'm at a loss there. Blackmail is a new one for us. We need to sleep on that punishment. I think grounding definitely, but maybe something more, too. I'm not sure."

"And Georgia?"

She sighed. "This is where you're going to want to yell at me."

"Why?"

"I think we should skip Georgia's punishment."

"What?! Are you crazy?"

"I'm not saying forever, but for tonight."

"No."

"Eric, she's upset. We're upset. She got her heart broken."

"And that means we let her get away with taking the car and sending it into a ditch?"

"No, not at all. What I'm saying is…let's worry about the car part tomorrow. Tonight, let's focus on the broken heart."

"I don't know."

She reached out for his hands. "I've been where Georgia is. I did something stupid with a car over a boy and my dad…I know he loved me, but all he focused on was what I did wrong. He didn't care about why I did it or that I was hurting. His response was to get mad and send me away so I'd have more supervision."

"I would never send her away. It wouldn't ever be an option."

"I know. I just think it's important we show Georgia that while we're furious about what she did and it is unacceptable behavior and she will be punished, we still love her and want to know what's going on in her life. She needs to know what she's feeling matters. I know what it's like to have your parent focus on the punishment and nothing else. And then to be sent to live with my grandmother? I felt lower than dirt. All it did was make me a better liar because I was afraid one wrong deed would turn someone against me. I already had issues trusting people and that didn't help. I don't want that kind of relationship with her."

Eric sighed. "I don't either."

"So," she began as she stood and wrapped him in a hug, "tonight broken heart, tomorrow sentencing?"

"If you think it's the right thing…okay."

"I really do."

"Can you handle this talk? I'm not in the right headspace for it now."

"Sure. While I talk to Georgia, you can try to come up with creative punishments for our little blackmailer. Put your crazy imagination to good use."

/

/

"What's the matter with you," Georgia asked, raising her head slightly from the pillow. Ever since Lucia had come to bed she'd been stomping around their room, whining and groaning about how much trouble is was in. "Whatever little baby prank you and Willow pulled tonight is nothing compared to what I did. I am truly dead."

"Don't worry about getting lonely, because I may be there with you."

She sat up. "What did you do?"

Lucia sat at the edge of her bed. "First I want you to promise you won't go crazy on me."

"Okay, fine, whatever. Now spill it."

"No, I want a serious promise."

"Bear, you're making me nervous." She still, more often than not, called her little sister by the nickname she'd had before she was even born. "What could be so bad?" There was a mumbled response Georgia couldn't quite make out. "What the hell are you saying?"

"I knew you were going to take dad's car. I heard you on the phone with Jasmine."

She listened as Lucia told all about her and Willow's plan. "You guys were going to blackmail me?"

"I'm sorry. If it makes you feel better I think I'm going to be grounded until I'm like….eighty. That vein in dad's forehead looked like it was going to pop and Aunt Toto mentioned something about what we were doing being a felony, so-" She wasn't prepared when Georgia kicked her and she fell from the bed to the floor, landing on a discarded pair of heels. "Ow!"

"You're a jerk."

"And you should really be playing soccer instead of volleyball." Lucia rubbed her leg. "That hurt."

"Good."

"Don't act like you never did the same thing to me."

"I never blackmailed you."

"What about last year when you caught me trying to forge mom's signature on a test? I got stuck cleaning our bathroom for three months."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. But at least I helped you study so you passed the next test." She tossed a pillow in her sister's direction. "So how did you get busted?"

"Take one guess."

"Sidda the squealer?"

"I swear she's got special radar." She decided to take the chance and get back on the bed. "How did mom and dad find out about you?"

"I called them."

"Why did you do something stupid like that?"

"I had no choice when I drove off the road and into a ditch."

"You what?"

"I blew out a front tire and there are so many scratches in the bumper." She shook her head. "I don't think dad said a word until we got home and then…well, you saw him."

Lucia winced. Silent dad was the worst. "Wow, they really might kill you more than me."

"Told you." She lay back down and stared at the ceiling. "I was stupid. I never should've taken the car."

"Why did you? You're so close to getting your license. Or at least you were."

"I got a text that Trevor was at a party with another girl. I didn't want to believe it, but I had to see if it was true." Georgia blinked back the tears stinging her eyes. "When I got there he was all over her."

"That bites."

"Pretty much."

Lucia hated seeing her sister cry over some guy. "You know this jerk isn't worth it, right?"

"What?"

"I know we don't say these kinds of things often, but you're too good for him. Why cry over Trevor if he's stepping out on you?"

"Because it still hurts, Lucia. I hope you never know this kind of pain, but it may happen."

She jumped at the sound of her mother's voice and saw her standing in the doorway. "What did I do now?"

"Nothing. I want to talk to your sister alone."

"Okay…I'll just go watch TV."

Angela laughed. "Fat chance. You're going to take care of all the dishes from tonight."

She sighed. "Fine, I'll load the dishwasher."

"Guess again. You're going to wash them in the sink."

"But that will take forever."

"Tough."

"You've seen the commercials for dish soap. What if I develop dish pan hands and it affects my ability to play the saxophone?"

"Wear gloves." She wrapped an arm around the younger girl's shoulders and escorted her to the hall. "I do appreciate your attempts to cheer up your sister."

"Do you appreciate it enough to not punish me?"

"It doesn't quite trump a felony, so no. I will take it into consideration when me and dad are determining your punishment, however."

"It's going to be ugly, isn't it?"

"I told dad to get creative and use his imagination."

"Aw, man! The last time dad got creative he dragged me out of bed at two in the morning to go to station and hold up cue cards for the early morning news because the TelePrompTers were broken. If I fell asleep he sprayed ice water at me!" She looked to Georgia when she heard her laugh. "What?"

"Should we tell her, mom?"

"Sure, it's been months. Luci, the TelePrompTers were never broken. You refused to go to bed and wanted to be up in the middle of the night, so dad found something for you to do in the middle of the night."

"I hate you both! That was a four hour broadcast."

Angela didn't bother hiding her giggles as Lucia stomped down the stairs. "Love you, too. Remember, not a single dish broken."

Georgia sat up cross-legged on her bed and stared at her mother. "So am I getting a creative punishment, too?"

"I don't know yet." She came further into the room and sat on the bed. "I'm not here to talk about your punishment right now."

"You're not?"

"No."

"What else is there to talk about?"

"You- how you're feeling and that you're okay."

"Really?"

"Georgia, as difficult as it is for you to imagine, I was fifteen once. And I, too, did something stupid because the boy I was seeing…someone I thought really liked me and cared about me, cheated with someone who was supposed to be my friend."

"Kendra has _never_ been my friend."

"That doesn't make it hurt any less."

"I thought things were going so well. We were already talking about how much fun it would be to go to Homecoming together, but now…" She looked down at her phone, which showed a photo of the two of them at a carnival just last weekend. "I don't know what I did wrong."

Angela held her daughter as she cried. She'd give anything to be able to spare her from this kind of pain and betrayal, but it seemed to be an unfortunate part of growing up. She found solace in knowing that right now she was giving Georgia something she didn't have when she was in this situation- her mother.


	3. Chapter 3

**So, it turns out I'm a little bit of a liar. This isn't the last part. There will be one more after this. We all know by now how much I love to ramble on and how much trouble I have cutting down on details and when it came time to try and chop parts of Angela and Georgia's conversation, well...as I said, I am a detail addict. This chapter is entirely Angela and Georgia. The next one will have conversations between Angela/Eric and finally, Eric and Georgia. It should be up by Tuesday/Wednesday (my weekend).**

 **Thanks for reading! And for your feedback, endless patience, and continued well-wishes! (I'm doing so much better, thank you.) :-)**

* * *

"...and the headlights from the oncoming traffic were so bright. I tried to brake, but my heel got stuck under the pedal. I couldn't."

Angela closed her eyes and tried not to picture the scene described to her. It wasn't working. She held Georgia tighter. "That's why we don't drive with our heels on. Why do you think I keep flats in the car?"

"I never noticed before. Trust me, I know now. Anyway, it was either hit the car in front of me or swerve and go off the road. I didn't want to hit another person."

"Do you have any idea how lucky you are? You could've very easily hit another car and hurt an innocent person. You could've hurt one of your friends. Georgia, you could've hurt yourself. And that is me being optimistic."

"I know, mom! I know. You don't have to keep pointing out how lucky I was."

Though her daughter tried to pull away, she was reluctant to loosen her grip. "This could've ended so badly for you. That phone call I got tonight- that ranks up there with the most dreaded for parents. So, no, you don't get to tell me how I react."

Georgia wiggled out of her mother's grasp and got out of bed. "So what, I make one mistake- a big mistake- but one mistake and I'm never going to be able to live it down? You're going to rub my nose in it forever?"

She sighed. Any hope of rational conversation would be lost if they started yelling. "No, not forever. Like I said earlier, whether you can believe it or not I do know exactly how you feel. I've been a teenager and did something stupid with a car over a boy I was dating."

She sat back down on the bed. "What did you do?"

"Well, I had been going out with this guy named Colin for a few weeks and we… well…we got very close very quickly, and-"

"What does that mean? Sex?"

Angela hesitated for a few seconds before answering. "Yes." Now was not the time to shut down the lines of open communication. "He was the first guy I ever slept with."

"How old were you?"

"I was your age, a few months younger actually."

"Oh."

"I was bored, curious, young, and naïve enough to think that Colin really liked me. Two weeks later I caught him with a girl who was supposed to be my friend. Apparently he liked her just as much as me." Angela stared at her hands and twisted her wedding band around her finger. Even though the thing with Colin happened almost thirty years ago, it was still one of the more humiliating moments of her life and helped shape how she handled romantic relationships for a long time afterward. "I was devastated. He was the first guy I ever cared about. I thought I could trust him and it blew up in my face."

"I'm sorry, mom. Colin and that so-called friend sound like assholes that deserved each other. I hope they were miserable together."

"Watch your language, but thank you."

"So then what happened?"

"I handled it with all the grace and maturity you'd expect from a fifteen year old who was in way over her head and not as grown up as she thought she was."

Georgia recognized a dig when she heard one, but wanted to know the rest of the story. "How does a car fit into all this?"

"This friend was the "bad girl" of my small group and I thought maybe that's what Colin wanted- a bad girl. I got this stupid idea in my head that if I showed him I could be bad, too, he'd want me back."

She couldn't imagine her mother so lacking in self-confidence that she'd try to change her personality for a guy. Her mom was the most secure person she knew. "That's so stupid. No offense, mom, but-"

"No, you're right. It was stupid, the most stupid thing I've ever done."

"Stop keeping me in suspense and just tell me!"

"My friend Keisha and I borrowed the jeep that belonged to a lieutenant general and decided to drive it across the base in the middle of the night past Colin's house and-."

"You stole an army jeep?!"

" _Borrowed_ , we borrowed it."

"The same way I just borrowed dad's car?"

"At first the plan was to drive it past his house and show him, really impress him. But on the way there I started talking to Keisha about why I was doing this and I got all worked up and upset again. By the time we made it across the base my plan changed."

"You're sounding very cryptic, mom."

"Colin had this bike, this beautiful dirt bike that he loved. He'd found it in a junkyard and restored it himself so he was very proud of it. That's why it was so surprising to see it laying in the driveway that night. He never left it out. All of a sudden I had a new target for my rage."

"Mom?"

"I wanted to hurt him like he hurt me and I knew destroying his bike would accomplish that."

She gasped. "You ran over his bike with the jeep?"

"No, that was my goal, but nope."

"But I-"

"Georgia, how old was I when this happened?"

"Fifteen."

"And are fifteen year olds good drivers?"

She crossed her arms and let out a heavy sigh. Her mom wasn't even being subtle with the digs. "We're probably not the best."

"Right and I was upset on top of it. I wasn't thinking straight and just going off of my emotions. I aimed for the bike, but I got mixed up with the gears and then there was a raccoon that startled me. I swerved and in the end I took out the mail box."

"Colin's family's mailbox?"

"No, a big blue mailbox sitting on the corner- it went flying into the middle of the street. It was right in front of Colin's house though, at least that's where it was before I hit it. The entire base was up within seconds it seemed."

"Wow, you stole an army jeep and hit a mailbox? Do you have a juvie record for damaging that much government property?"

She chuckled quietly. "No, no, Keisha and I got lucky. Since we were considered typically good kids, it was decided that no charges would be filed. Granted, we jumped out of the jeep and they could never prove who was driving, so…"

"Wow," Georgia said with a laugh, "mom's got a dark side."

"I'm not proud of it, Georgia, but it's a part of my past. That whole mess helped to shape the person I am today. I do hope you'll learn from my mistakes and the mistake you made tonight and not let a guy get to you so much that it overrides your common sense. I'm here. I'm always going to be here. Talk to me first."

"I'll try to remember, mom, I promise. So, how much-"

There was one thing Angela wanted to know, but wasn't sure how her daughter would handle being questioned. Would she be open or would she retreat? "Can I ask you something?"

"I guess."

"Part of the reason I was so hurt by what Colin did was because we'd been intimate. I thought sex was something that was supposed to bring us closer. To him it seemed like another thing to check off a list."

"What are you getting at?"

"How close…have you…did you and Trevor have sex?"

"Mom!" She covered her head with a blanket and wanted to crawl into a hole.

"I don't think it's an unreasonable question. And there's no need to be embarrassed. It's not as if we've never discussed sex before."

"Right and I promised I would talk to you before I did anything. Have I come to talk to you or asked you to take me for birth control?"

"No."

"Then you have your answer," Georgia replied, somewhat defensive.

"You don't need to have an attitude. I just wanted to know." She removed the blanket from her daughter's head and pushed the wayward curls out of her face. The blue eyes that stared back at her didn't appear relieved, however. They were still hiding something. "What aren't you telling me, Georgia?"

She sat up and faced her mother. "Promise not to get mad?"

"I'm not going to get madder than I already am tonight."

That was as good as she could hope for at this point. "I didn't have sex, not with Trevor or with anybody else, but we did talk about it."

"Oh?" Angela was glad she was sitting. "And?"

"He really wanted to and I thought about it…I _really_ thought about it, but I decided I wasn't ready yet. I mean, we'd only been going out for a month. That's not that long when you think about it."

She was tempted to cheer and do cartwheels around the room. Instead she worked to choose her words carefully. "I'm glad you made the choice that was right for you, not Trevor."

"Let me guess, next you're going to tell me you want me to wait until I'm married, right?"

"I'd be a hypocrite if I said that. You were at mine and dad's wedding. The pictures are proof." Angela wrapped an arm around Georgia's shoulders. "I only hope when you do decide the time is right that it's with someone you trust and love. And that this person loves you the way you deserve."

She was quiet for several long moments as her mom's words sank in. "For a while tonight I was wondering if I did make the right choice."

"What do you mean?"

"I think that's what made him go to Kendra. Let's just say that "no" isn't a word she's familiar with."

"Is that true or are you just saying that about her because you're angry?"

"It's what I've heard. She's pretty popular with guys."

"I'm sorry Trevor cheated on you regardless of the circumstances, but I don't want you spreading rumors about Kendra's reputation, no matter what you've heard."

"But, mom-"

"No, Georgia. Dad and I didn't raise you to be the kind of girl who spreads rumors about other girls like that. Be mad at Trevor. If it hadn't of been Kendra it probably would've been someone else."

"Thanks a lot."

"All I'm saying is no person can make someone cheat. That's a choice they make by themselves. Don't blame the person they chose to cheat with."

Georgia laid her head against her mother's shoulder. "Could you stop making sense?"

"Sorry, dad called dibs on the angry card tonight and I got stuck being calm and rational. Next time we'll switch it up for you though."

"You always do. Can we go back to your story?"

"My story?

"Did you get into big trouble after you stole the jeep and crashed into the mailbox?"

"Ooh boy." She exhaled. "Your grandfather…to say he wasn't happy would be an understatement of epic proportions. He yelled until he lost his voice."

"Then what did Grandpa Sir do?"

Angela smiled at the nickname. One day when Georgia was around two or three years old she randomly starting referring to her grandfather as Grandpa Sir. Neither she nor Eric knew where she picked it up and her dad had been gone for more than a year when it started. Around the same time Georgia talked about her grandfather visiting in her dreams and would describe- in great detail- all of the adventures they had. The dreams stopped when she was about seven and the notebook where Angela kept a written record of them was a priceless memento. You could've knocked her over with a feather when Rosie woke up one day last year talking about a dream she had with a funny, giant man who looked like Grandpa Sir's pictures. There was a new notebook started and some of the details were so similar to Georgia's it was spooky. If Lucia and Sidda had dreams they either never mentioned them or didn't remember.

"Mom?" She nudged her arm when she received no response. "Mom?"

"What? Sorry, I guess my mind wandered for a minute."

"You were going to tell me how Grandpa Sir reacted to you taking the car."

"Right." She cleared her throat. "He decided that my insubordination was a direct result of lack of supervision on his part. That's more or less a direct quote from him."

"Insub..what?"

"Insubordination: my bad behavior."

"You know, sometimes smaller words are your friends."

"Grandpa didn't think so. Just like he also didn't think living with him was the right place for me anymore. The military kept him too busy and I needed more guidance. He decided I needed to go live with someone who could keep a better eye on me. That's how I first ended up here in Philadelphia. I picked my grandmother over military school and Aunt Trish." Angela decided to leave out the part about choosing Philadelphia solely because she thought she'd get to see her own mother again.

"Oh." The teen got up and walked over to the window. She picked up an old doll along the way and hugged it to her chest.

"Wow, I haven't seen you take out Baby Erica in a while. You dragged her along everywhere when you were little. I remember how upset you were when dad and I tried to explain why she couldn't go to kindergarten with you. Do you remember?" She was met with silence. "What is it?"

"You just spent the past forever saying you knew how I felt and the stupid thing you did when you were my age. Now you're telling me how grandpa punished you. Isn't the part that comes next you trying to explain why you're punishing me the same way and how you'll totally get what I'm feeling as you shove me out the door?"

"Oh, Georgia." Angela rushed over to her daughter and wrapped her arms around her. "We would never kick you out. It wouldn't ever occur to us as an option."

"Are you sure dad feels the same way," she mumbled, wiping her eyes on the hat that covered Baby Erica's head.

"Of course I'm sure. How could you doubt it?"

"He seems to hate me right now. He's hardly said a word. Dad always has something to say….about everything. Most of the time we can't get him to _stop_ talking."

"Sweetie, no, he doesn't hate you. He's furious, yes, but he could never hate you. Your dad…" She sighed. "…when he's really angry or scared he shuts down. I think it's because he's afraid of saying something in the heat of the moment that he can't take back, so he'd rather say nothing."

"I'd rather know what he was thinking instead of having to guess."

"I've been telling him that for nearly seventeen years. I don't think he's changing." She kissed the top of Georgia's head. "But would we really want him any different?"

"I guess not. Dad would be weird if he wasn't, well…if he wasn't dad."

"I'm glad we agree. So are we clear now? Me and dad, while mad as hell and definitely don't want you pulling another stunt like this again, love you and have no intentions of turning our backs on you under any circumstances. Do you get it?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Good. But you need to accept that this isn't going to be a quick fix like the time you broke our bedroom window playing baseball or when you raided my closet without permission. Speaking of which, don't think for one second I didn't notice that the dress you were wearing came from my closet. And last I checked you can't afford Louboutin heels on your allowance. If they are scuffed, so help me, there will be extra hell to pay."

The teen went to retrieve the red patent peep toe slingbacks. "I don't see how you can walk in these things. I swear I could hardly keep my balance sitting in them."

"Louboutin is not a beginner's shoe. You have to learn to walk in them and they are definitely not for driving." Angela stared at the floor. "Now pick up my dress before it gets any more wrinkles."

"I only borrowed this dress because I haven't seen you wear it in forever. You said it might be too short for someone your age to—"

"Ooh, danger, Georgia, danger." She pointed at her daughter. "You're in enough trouble without calling your mother old. What I said about that dress was that it was much shorter in person than it looked online and inappropriate to wear for your grandmother's birthday party. That doesn't translate to you can take it from my closet at will."

"All of my stuff makes me look fifteen."

"You are fifteen."

"For ten more days."

"The dress code isn't magically changing on your birthday."

Georgia briefly wondered if she was still having her birthday this year. It was a big one, her sweet sixteen. But she wasn't going to ask. If her parents were fishing for ideas for her punishment, she wasn't going to provide one on a silver platter. "I took that one because the rest of your dresses either had no back or really crazy cutouts and designs in the back. Why is that?"

"Because it drives your father insane and he can't keep his hands off of me," Angela replied with a grin. "I love that."

"Gross, mom!" She flopped down on Lucia's bed and covered her face with a pillow. "Don't talk about you and daddy like that."

"How do you think you and your sisters got here? I certainly didn't wake up one morning and magically find you sleeping in a bassinet beside my bed."

"The stork picked us up from a cabbage patch."

"At least you have a logical explanation all worked out for yourself."


	4. Chapter 4

**I said in the previous chapter I was a little bit of a liar...turns out I'm more of a liar that I realized, lol. When doing final edits for this chapter- what I planned to be the final chapter- I realized that Eric and Angela's conversation sort of monopolized things in a way I hadn't realized. It's not bad (I don't think...I certainly hope not.) but it didn't exactly mesh with the tone I have for Eric and Georgia's conversation. So there will be one more chapter. (For real this time. I promise.) It will mostly be Eric and Georgia and will be up soon. I'm not saying a specific day since I also failed slightly with getting this chapter out when I said I would, so I'm going with soon. Hopefully you don't mind one more after this one. :-)**

 **Thanks for reading and being patient with me and not minding all the details. :-)**

* * *

"Psst! Bear," Georgia called out to her sister in a whisper. Lucia was still stuck at the sink doing dishes. There seemed to be a collection of bowls, cups, and plates on the counter waiting to be washed as well. That was odd. "Bear?" She couldn't seem to hear her over the water. Georgia ripped a paper towel from the dispenser and balled it up before sending it flying towards the sink. "Lucia!"

"Hey!" She turned around and saw Georgia in the doorway. "What are you doing?"

"Quiet. Where are mom and dad?"

"They took the dogs out for a walk."

"When did they leave?

"I don't know- maybe ten minutes ago." She watched her sister rush to the fridge. "Why?"

"I'm starving. I was supposed to get pizza with Jasmine before I got the text about Trevor. After that we obviously didn't get pizza. I never had dinner."

"Why do you care where mom and dad are? No matter how mad they get they're never going to reach the point of starving us."

"I know, but I want to eat and get back to our room before they get home. I can't face dad, not if he's going to just stand there like a statue and stare at me." She moved to grab a plate from the cabinet, but found it bare. There were, in fact, no dishes. "Um, Bear...what the hell?"

"Welcome to part one of mom and silent dad's punishment for me. I was almost done with everything in the dishwasher when they were leaving when mom said maybe the clean dishes aren't so clean. Then dad starting quoting those dishwashing soap commercials where they talk about crusty food pieces being left behind."

She made a face and put the leftover spaghetti back in the fridge. "Yuck."

"Before I knew what was happening he emptied the cabinets."

"And you have to wash all of these?"

"Please," she scoffed. "I'm just running them under the water. What's going to be tricky is the silverware." She looked in the silverware drawer. "I'll be here all night."

"Line them up on the clean side and use the sprayer."

Lucia had a look on her face as though a light bulb went off over her head. "Duh, why didn't I think of that?"

"You're still a kid."

"So are you."

"Yeah, but I'm in some major league trouble."

"Are you grounded, banned from driving, what?"

"I don't know. Mom said she and dad have to talk about it."

"That can't be a good sign." She realized she didn't know her punishment yet either. Doing the dishes was something her mom came up with just to get her out of the room. It was busywork. "We both jumped way beyond baby crimes tonight, didn't we?"

"It's definitely bigger than you stealing my sweater and all of those, 'no, she hit me first,' fights we had."

"I never stole your sweater for the millionth time."

"Then where is it? It climbed down from the hanger and walked away from my half of the closet?"

"Maybe mom borrowed it. You take her stuff all the time."

Georgia hadn't considered that, but now certainly wasn't the time to quiz mom over a missing sweater, even if it was her favorite. "I think I'll wait a day or two…or four hundred thousand, to ask her." She went to grab a plate and knife but was blocked. "What are you doing?"

"You're seriously going to do something that needs dishes after seeing all the stuff mom and dad are making me do?"

"I'm going to eat. What do you expect me to do?"

"Eat nothing that requires dishes."

She was too tired to argue and settled for an apple, handful of pretzels, and a juice box. It brought back flashes of kindergarten snack time, if you occasionally traded out the pretzels for goldfish crackers, that is. "Did dad still seem upset," Georgia asked after a few minutes of silence.

"What?"

"Did dad…how mad was he?"

"I don't know. The only time he said anything it was about soap and dishes." Lucia turned off the water before pitching the rubber gloves and sitting at the table. "It is weird when he's the madder one, though. At least with mom if she's going to yell she does it right away and then gives the punishment. She doesn't torture us by dragging it out."

"I don't think I've ever seen him this mad."

"You've never screwed up this big before."

"Excuse me? I didn't screw up alone tonight."

"Fine, whatever. This is probably the angriest he's been since we tried digging up the backyard."

Georgia laughed, memories of that day coming back to her. "We were so stupid. I can't believe I thought we were going to find dinosaur bones."

"You made me believe it, too."

"Hey, that nature show said there could be dinosaur bones hiding anywhere. But we were supposed to be in it together and you put the blame on me as soon as you got the chance."

"It was your idea!"

"You went along with me."

"You were eleven. I was eight. What else was I going to do?"

"How about _not_ crumble the second mom and dad questioned you?"

"I was eight," she repeated in her defense. "You know we're older now."

"Duh?"

"We're stronger. We can probably dig faster."

"What's your point, Bear? You planning on digging a hole to China to escape?"

"I was thinking we dig until we find a pterodactyl to fly us out of here, but China works, too."

/

/

"Go on, Zephyr, go get the toy!"

Angela watched from the bench as Eric sent the Frisbee airborne and their husky ran after it, catching it in one impressive leap. They'd taken the dogs on an extra-long walk and were now letting them run off whatever excess energy was left in the backyard. She looked to her feet where their older dog- Georgia's dog- was laying and watching. He was still active and alert, but didn't have the energy of his much younger companion. Angela reached down and rubbed the dog's head before giving him a treat. "I know, Sprinkles, it sucks getting old, huh?" After a while Eric finally joined her. "Okay, now that the dogs are worn out can we talk?"

"Talk about what?"

"Are you seriously asking me that? After everything that's happened tonight?"

"We did talk. You said you wanted to postpone punishments. That's what I'm doing."

"No, you're freezing the girls out."

"I'm not-"

"Georgia thinks you hate her."

"What?"

"She thinks you hate her. We talked about a lot of stuff and I told her what happened to me when I was her age with Colin and the army jeep. We compared stories so to speak."

"And just how much do your experiences with jerky boyfriends match up?"

Angela knew what he was getting at. "She didn't sleep with him." He visibly relaxed. "But when she asked what my punishment had been and I told her my dad sent me to live someplace where I'd have more supervision she started to cry. She thought I shared my story as a way to ease into her having the same punishment."

"Georgia thought we were going to kick her out?" A knife in the gut would probably hurt less right now. "Why?"

"Did you hear me when I said she thinks you hate her?"

"But not you?"

"She knows I'm mad as hell, but I'm also talking to her. You…when you get really angry it changes your personality. You shut down and block people out. I understand why it happens, but it can be scary to see the transformation in you. Me, I can take it, but don't do it to the girls. I know Georgia and Luci are older, but they're still kids."

"I screwed up big, huh?"

"No, I think you're entitled to go ballistic in a situation like this, but temporarily. We still have to go back to being parents."

"You didn't freak out."

"That's only because of our deal. Only one of us is allowed to lose it at a time, remember? You pulled the freak out card first."

"Sorry."

"That's okay. I've certainly used it more than you have. You have a tendency to-"

"Get the most bang for my buck when I pull it?"

"If you want to be diplomatic about it, sure, we'll go with that."

"I just-" He shook his head and rubbed his face with his hands.

"What is it?"

"Every time I close my eyes I see my dented bumper. I see the bumper and that makes me think about how easy it would've been for something to go very wrong tonight. What if she hit someone else? What if the car didn't stop at the ditch and flipped-"

Angela slid over and closed the small gap between them and held him close. She knew his emotions were bound to catch up with him at some point. There were too many distractions before. "I know. But she's okay."

"My mind has just been constant flashes of worst case scenarios."

"For what it's worth I think this scared the crap out of her."

"I don't even know how I'd have handled it if something worse had happened." Something happening to one of his girls was his worst nightmare. Eric usually didn't allow his mind to go there. Tonight, however, it can't be stopped. "What if-"

She put her hand over his mouth. "Stop. I don't want to think about that. We got lucky tonight. Let's just count our blessings, okay?"

"Deal." They sat together in silence for a while, both trying not to think how bad it could've been. "I suppose we've been pretty lucky over the years."

"All things considered, I'd say things have been good."

"Just good?"

Angela gave him a small smile. "They've been great. Our life is pretty kickass, even with the hiccups along the way." When he leaned back against the bench she rested her head on his chest. "Lucia's emergency appendectomy two years ago: that sucked big time."

"I thought she was just being overdramatic and didn't want to go back to school after a couple snow days."

"So did I. After all, she comes by her drama queen genes honestly."

"I don't know that I'd call you a drama queen."

She lightly pinched his side. "I meant she gets it from you and her Uncle Cory."

"Oh, well…yeah, you may have a point. At least we realized her fever was off the charts before we tried to force her in the car to school."

"Still sucks sitting in that waiting room while your kid is in surgery. They need to hand out sedatives for the parents in those situations."

"You can suggest that to the nurses during our next emergency room visit."

"I thought we would've avoided all of these emergency room visits since we have girls."

"Medical emergencies can happen to anyone."

"I'm not talking about those visits. I mean the ones for stitches when they decided to test the laws of gravity and fell or used sticks that started out as magic wands but usually turned into swords. Boys are the ones with the rough and tumble reputation. I didn't see it coming with the girls."

"Both boys and girls can be clumsy."

"Remember when we discovered the hard way that Sidda is allergic to bees?"

"You owned the freak out card that day," he said. "I couldn't even borrow it for a minute."

"Blame it on one too many viewings of _My Girl_ as a kid. Damn Macaulay Culkin," she added with a laugh.

"Do we need to keep talking about medical emergencies? That hits too close to what tonight could've been."

She reached for his hand and held it tight. "We made it out of the fog."

 _When Angela and Eric began talking about having a third child they decided to veer from the normal route of their unexpected blessings in their first two and actually plan for a baby. It seemed easy enough. People planned babies all the time. They found they really enjoyed the three and a half year age gap between Georgia and Lucia and hoped for something similar again. So they decided to start trying before Lucia was to turn three._

 _They hadn't expected it to take nearly five years and to endure a miscarriage before they were holding Sidda in their arms._

"There were a few moments where I wasn't sure what would happen to us," Eric admitted. "I was so scared."

"Me, too."

 _The most frustrating part was, after two healthy pregnancies, there seemed to be no medical reason for their struggles. It just was. And then after two years of trying they got positive results. They'd been so overjoyed it hadn't occurred to them to wait to tell people. Having to take back the good news just a few weeks later- to family, friends, perfect strangers who watched Eric on the news- was difficult. It was most challenging trying to explain it to Georgia and Lucia when they themselves didn't understand why._

"Is it weird or wrong that sometimes I wonder what would've happened if we hadn't lost the baby?"

"I think that's normal. It still crosses my mind from time to time, especially around the anniversary of the loss and what would've been the due date."

"But then I think about Sidda and Rosie and I can't imagine our lives without them. If changing even one thing means we wouldn't get to have them in our lives…" He shook his head. "I don't know. It's complicated. I don't know what the right answer is, if there even is a right answer in something like this."

"Trust me, I know."

 _It was one of the most trying times in their marriage. The girls were the ones who brought them out of the fog and made them see how bad things had gotten. They were putting them to bed one night and Lucia asked if they were going to get divorced. Angela and Eric were flabbergasted and asked where she got that idea…and where she learned the word divorce before age five. She pointed out- in that innocent yet candid way kids have about them- they never smiled anymore and didn't give each other hugs and kisses. When Georgia started to cry and said that she didn't want to live in two houses like her friend Jasmine they knew it was time to open their eyes and reevaluate their situation. They'd spent so much time and energy trying to plan a baby that might not ever come that they were going through the motions in every other aspect of their lives._

"Do you think Georgia and Luci remember that time?"

"They weren't babies. Georgia was eight when we finally saw what we were doing to ourselves."

"I hate that they have to carry that with them."

"Me, too, but maybe the end result overrides what came earlier. I mean, yes, they saw us at our lowest and feared the worst, but they also saw us at our bravest. They witnessed firsthand how much we love them and each other and that we were willing to fight through anything to stay a family."

 _They threw out charts, schedules, calendars…everything they thought they needed to help in their baby mission. All of their energy became focused on healing their marriage and their family. They made sure Georgia and Lucia knew that they were loved and wanted and that their family was forever. Nothing would change that. It took several months, but eventually Angela and Eric started to feel like their old selves again. The smiles came more easily. Then so did the laughter. They finished each other's sentences and openly showed affection. They made love because they wanted to, not because it was good timing._

 _And then after about a year of feeling normal they decided to take a vacation over the Christmas holiday. It had always been Angela's dream to show her daughters all the places she lived before putting down roots in Philadelphia, so when Eric suggested a trip to retrace her Parisian steps she was thrilled and couldn't book it fast enough._

 _The trip was a success. Georgia and Lucia loved seeing the sights and getting to see mom's old stomping grounds. They especially loved putting the French they'd been learning for years in their immersion school into real practice. All they could talk about was one day living in Paris like their mom. Eric balked at that, but otherwise enjoyed getting caught up in the romance of the city with his wife._

 _The one thing neither of them expected was the souvenir that came home with them: Sidonie. They were often questioned about the origins of her name, but would simply smile at each other and respond that it was French. It seemed fitting to give her a French name._

"Having Sidda at that stage seemed like an experience by itself."

"She certainly did take her sweet time arriving in our lives. Her in utero nickname was _The Straggler_ for a reason."

"I prefer to think of Sidda as being fashionably late."

"That's a nice thought. Sidonie has always known how to make an entrance."

"Eh, Rosie was pretty good at surprise entrances, too."

"No argument here, our sneaky little Ninja baby," Angela said, referencing Rosie's in utero name.

 _Sidda was nearly eight months old and in the throes of teething and sleepless nights and Angela and Eric were discussing vasectomies and tubal ligations when she discovered she was pregnant again. She was happy, but for the first couple of days all she could do was cry. They were so sleep deprived and another baby meant it would be even longer until there was a light at the end of that tunnel. She also found the back to back surprise pregnancies were bringing up mixed emotions about their challenging years. Not to mention she was almost forty. They had briefly talked about adopting if they desired more children in the future, but farther in the future. She'd made her peace with Sidda being their last baby. Eric was thrown, too, but for another reason entirely._

"It still kills me that Feeny never got to meet Rosie."

 _She was supposed to be named Seraphina -Pheeny- but with Mr. Feeny gone Georgia became almost protective about being his namesake and was hesitant to share the title. They agreed to find a different name for their new daughter. Eric wasn't totally serious when he suggested Rose. He'd just remembered how much time Feeny spent in the garden tending to the flowers. He couldn't see a rose without thinking of his mentor. Angela jumped at the suggestion but thought Rose was too abrupt with their last name. So they looked into longer variants and asked Georgia and Lucia what they thought. She made a fine Rosalind, but she was an exceptionally perfect Rosie. And she fit into their family from day one, as though she was just waiting for the day she could officially join their ranks._

"I stand by my statement," Angela said before leaning in for a quick kiss. "Kickass life." She caught the confused look on his face. "What's wrong?"

"I just can't believe that thinking about some of our most challenging moments made me feel better. It doesn't make sense."

"Sure it does."

"How?"

"We survived."

Eric hugged her to his chest. "Sometimes I can't believe how lucky we are. I still have to pinch myself to make sure this isn't a dream. Who knew the fortune teller would be right?"

She frowned and looked up at him. "What are you talking about? What fortune teller?"

"I never told you about this?"

"Is this the face of someone in the know?"

"When I was sixteen I went on a date with this girl… Mandy…Brandy…Candy….I don't remember her name anymore."

"This had better be good if there's another girl involved."

"Just listen. Please?"

"Continue."

"There was this carnival set up in the park and whatshername wanted to go. The lines for all of the rides were miles long, but the wait for the fortune teller lady was five minutes. We decided to have our fortunes told."

"Hoping the charlatan would say something that would get you a good make out when you dropped your date off at home?"

"Are you sure I never told you this story before?"

"Eric?"

"Sorry. Anyway, she looked into her crystal ball and told me what most guys dreamed of hearing. She said I'd spend my life surrounded by beautiful women and that's what happened. This isn't what I thought she meant when I was sixteen, but-"

She snorted. "I can only imagine what you thought she meant when you were sixteen. I'm sure you were hoping to be surrounded by Mandy, Brandy, Candy, and hell, we'll throw Sandy in this teenage fantasy, too."

"Just so long as you're in there somewhere."

"You're sick."

"And you are ruining what was supposed to be a sweet antidote."

"Anecdote."

"Whatever. It has always been my destiny to be surrounded by women. I got the life I wanted."

"That's really sweet, I think." Angela looked up when she saw a shadow from the kitchen window. "We've been spotted. I suppose we should get in there." She made no attempts to move from their spot. "If you don't think you can talk to Georgia tonight without losing your cool wait until tomorrow."

"No, I can handle it. I don't want her to spend another second thinking I hate her. It was just the fear talking…or not talking, in my case."

"That's what you can open with. Speak from your heart. You've always been good at that."


	5. Chapter 5

**This is the final chapter. For real, lol. And, as promised, Eric and Georgia's talk...the whole chapter is the two of them. Thanks so much for reading this little story. I was a little nervous about posting it since it does leap so far into the future and more or less gives you the ultimate endings for the characters, but I suppose you don't know how they get there and that will be the fun in reading the sequel to Where You Least Expect It (it's coming very soon). :-)**

 **This started out as just a little way to get my feet wet with writing/editing again after being so sick for a while but I really enjoyed it and had a lot of fun. I'm not ruling out the possibility of another short story or two along this similar time frame in the future.**

 **As always, thanks for following along and sticking with me in this unusual alternate universe with our favorite unlikely couple. :-)**

* * *

Eric wasn't sure if it was the nightmare or the sudden, sharp pain in his abdomen that startled him out of his sleep, but one minute he was lying down and the next he was upright, holding his stomach. At first he believed the discomfort to be a reaction to the dream, but when he looked down there were small feet resting in his lap. When had Rosie climbed into bed with him and Angela? Didn't he put her back into her own bed a few hours ago?

When he and Angela came inside Lucia had been finishing up the dishes and said that Georgia had been in bed the whole time. They were skeptical, having been pretty sure they saw two shadows from the yard, but didn't push it. It had been a long night for everyone and they all needed some sleep. That was proving to be easier said than done, however. The visions he'd had of his car when he closed his eyes paled in comparison to what he just saw in his nightmare. He eased out of bed. Further attempts to sleep would be useless at this point.

On his way downstairs he stopped at both rooms occupied by his daughters. That wasn't unusual, but tonight he needed extra reassurance that the girls were safe in their beds. Sidda was spread out like a starfish, taking up every available inch of mattress- save for the corner occupied by her cat. Eric briefly wondered why she was wearing her rain boots and a tutu, but decided some things were better off being mysteries. When he came to Georgia and Lucia's room he carefully opened the door, wincing as it creaked. He sighed in relief when he saw both girls asleep. The only thing that was different was that they were sleeping with their heads at the foot of their beds. They only did that when there was some serious talking going on before they went to sleep. He could only imagine how that went. He was glad, however, that they were close enough to talk about big stuff, especially when they were in trouble. He and Cory were about the girls' ages when they started drifting apart. It was no one's fault. Eric had just outgrown his little brother for a while in his pursuit of the opposite sex. They came back around though. Still, he hoped Georgia and Lucia were able to avoid that, even if it was a natural part of being siblings and growing up.

/

He was watching some disaster program on the weather channel when he heard someone coming down the stairs. He assumed it was Angela coming to see what happened to him, but when he looked up Georgia was standing there. It was quite obvious that she had been crying. "Georgia?"

"Hi."

"Are you okay?"

She still found it difficult to look him in the eye. "Uh-huh."

"You sure about that?"

She started to nod, but the rogue tear that fell down her cheek gave her away. "Not so much, no." It wasn't long before more tears and sniffles followed. "I'm sorry about your car."

"I know. You want to talk about it?"

"If you don't hate me, sure."

Eric never wanted to hear those words come out of his daughter's mouth again. He turned off the television and switched on a lamp before he got up and walked over to her. "I'm angry. I'm not going to lie. This probably ranks somewhere in my top ten angriest moments, but I don't hate you. I love you. You are my firstborn, my baby girl. My life changed forever the moment mom told me she was pregnant and I knew you existed. I can get even sappier if you want, but I need to save something for your birthday."

She chuckled. "That's okay."

"So, you see…no hate. It's impossible. Do you get that?"

"Yeah."

"Can we hug it out or are you at that, ' _Ew, gross, my dad totally has cooties_ ,' stage?" He took a few steps backward and had the wind knocked out of him when Georgia threw her arms around him. "So, I guess I don't have cooties yet," he asked as he returned the hug. When did she get so tall? He didn't remember Georgia being this tall.

"No, no cooties."

"That's a relief. I'd hate to be docked cool points. They keep track of those at all the dad meetings." She nodded against his shoulder. "I know I'm not ready to go back to sleep. Are you?"

"Not really."

"Great." He slung an arm across her shoulders and led her to the kitchen. "We have _so_ much to talk about. Sit down."

Georgia did as she was told and parked herself at the table. She was only half paying attention as he moved around the room and grabbed various things from cabinets, drawers, and the fridge. When he brought the giant mixing bowl and serving spoons to the table all she could think about was how upset Bear would be about the dishes. "Dad, what is this?"

"It hasn't been that long, has it?" Eric ripped open the new box of cereal and dumped at least half of it into the bowl before adding the milk. "Chocolate syrup," he asked, holding up a bottle.

"Is that even a question? If we're going to do this we need to do it right."

"That's my girl." He added a generous serving of syrup to the chocolatey cereal. "Too much?"

"Never."

They ate in silence for a while. Eric didn't even know where to begin. Did he express his disappointment? Did he attempt to relate to her with his own tales of teenaged stupidity? Did he yell? There was still a part of him that really, _really_ wanted to yell at her. "Look, Georgia, I know you're at an age where your brain cells get knocked around by goofy, crazy hormones and you're also half me so the goofy and crazy probably doubles or triples- but what the hell were you thinking? When did taking the car before you got your license seem like a good idea?"

"I've had a lot of practice driving. I didn't think driving at night would be that different. All I could think about was finding out if Trevor was with another girl."

"Did I ever tell you that I failed my driving test the first time I took it?"

"Really?"

"Yeah, I passed the written but failed driving before I even started. I thought the drunk father of one of the other test takers was a DMV worker. He waved me forward, so I went."

"What happened?"

"I think I blocked most of it out. It's kind of a blur of cones flying and my friend Jason yelling at me and calling me an idiot."

"Ouch. Did grandma and grandpa understand it was just a mistake?"

"I'm sure they probably would've if I told them right away…or if that was the end of the story."

"What do you mean? What happened next?"

"You see, me and Jason…we had big plans that night. I was supposed to ace my test, get my license, and he had scored us a couple hot dates who would be very impressed with me and my car."

"Ah."

"In my defense I tried to tell grandpa the second I got home, but he kept going on about how big a deal driving was and how proud he was of me- he even handed me his car keys." Eric stirred the soggy cereal around in the bowl. "Combine that with Jason yacking in my ear about the dates and I choked. I didn't want to let my dad or my friend down."

"You must've really cared about the girl and wanted to go out on this date to go to all that trouble."

"Honestly, no. I can't remember what her name was and don't know if she was blonde or brunette. If my life depended on it I couldn't pick her out of a lineup."

"Oh. Did you get caught?"

"Oh, I was so busted. Dummy me accidentally parked in a handicap space and got the car towed. Then I couldn't get it out because I didn't have a license. So I had to call Feeny."

"Why him?"

"My parents were out somewhere and he was baby-sitting Cory, Shawn and Morgan. You know that picture of him in the fancy hat and earrings having a tea party with Morgan? It was from that night."

Georgia laughed. "How did he react when you called?"

He thought back to that night in the tow shop so many years ago. "Actually, he was pretty cool about the whole thing until he found out I lied about having my license. After that…he yelled at me and sent me to my room."

"For real?"

"For real."

She tried to picture his reaction to her stunt tonight, almost able to see his disappointment. It wasn't pretty. "What was your punishment?"

"I was grounded for a couple weeks and then when I finally got my license the only driving I was allowed to do was run errands or drive your Uncle Cory and Aunt Morgan wherever they wanted to go."

"I hope you're not getting tips from grandma and grandpa."

"Considering what happened tonight it's going to be a while before you're driving without an adult in the car even after you get your license, so no, not quite."

"You're still letting me get my license?"

"Eventually, but not as soon as you planned. I think we all agree you need more practice driving at night."

"How far away is not as soon as I planned?" Considering the nightmare she'd had that drove her downstairs, Georgia wasn't sure she even wanted her license anymore. Still, there was a difference between not wanting something and your parents forbidding you from having it.

"Mom and I talked about it a little before we went to bed and if you don't have any more accidents you can drive yourself to your first college class."

Her jaw dropped. "Dad, that's two years! My permit will expire at least-"

He laughed at her panic. "I'm kidding. We'll wait a few months and then see how things go, okay?"

"That seems fair."

"We also decided not to get the insurance company involved since the damage to the car seems pretty minor. Our rates are going to be jacked up enough adding a teenager to the plan. We don't need an accident on top of it." He rolled his eyes. "I feel so old talking about insurance rates."

Georgia stared at the bowl of what was now primarily chocolate milk. "Have I mentioned enough that I'm sorry about the car?"

"I don't care about the car, not really."

"You don't? But at the garage you were talking to it and everything."

"Okay, so I care a little, but it wasn't what upset me. The car…it was a symbol."

"A symbol of what?"

"Do you know how many news broadcasts I've sat through waiting to do weather and have had to listen to reports about car accidents?"

"No."

"Too many. Sometimes people come out of it okay, but a lot of times they don't. When I got to the garage I might have been looking at the car but I was seeing everything that could've happened to you." Eric shook his head. "I'm still seeing it every time I close my eyes. You got so lucky tonight, Georgia." He cleared his throat. "You're too young to appreciate how lucky. You, your mom, your sisters- nothing means more to me than you. I know life's a crapshoot and we never know what's going to happen, but the thought of losing you guys or you getting hurt and me not being able to protect you…that's my worst nightmare. Tonight felt like I was given just a glimpse of hell."

"I'm sorry, daddy," she whispered, blinking back fresh tears. "I promise I'll never do anything like this again."

"I hope so."

"You don't believe me?"

"I believe that you mean it right now, but I've also been a teenager. Stuff happens."

"Dad, I know I screwed up bigtime, but does one mistake erase almost sixteen years of being a good, trustworthy person?"

"No, but it also doesn't mean that you don't have to earn our trust back either. This is going to take time."

"Mom pretty much said the same thing."

"Yeah, well, mom's smart."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"If you did something dumb with grandpa's car and mom stole an army jeep, why are you guys so surprised I took your car? Isn't it a given that I would pull something like this? It's practically my birthright."

"Birthright? Easy there, Simba. I hoped you would be smarter than we were."

"Maybe you should've told me the stories as a warning."

"I thought they'd send the wrong message and encourage you." He moved to a chair closer to his daughter. "Can I ask you something else now?"

"Okay."

"Do I need to go kick Trevor's ass?"

Georgia burst out laughing. "Dad!"

"I'm serious. I'll do it. You know I will. Just say the word." She didn't answer immediately. "You do realize I take that silence as permission, right? I'll round everyone up, go to his house, and-"

"Everyone who?"

" _Everyone_ everyone…face it, Georgia, you've had a whole army of people willing to kick ass for you since the day you were born. All we were missing was a target. Now we have one."

"As sweet as that is, dad, I don't think you'll look very tough picking on a sixteen year old boy."

"Fine, then I'll go beat up his dad for raising the kid that hurt my kid."

"You're crazy."

"What if I send in Sidda? You know how much the girl loves her karate lessons."

She had to admit the visual image in her head was quite amusing. And Sidda was up for any reason to use her beginners' skills outside of class. "I'll get back to you on that one." Georgia covered her mouth in an attempt to hide her yawn, but wasn't successful.

"Bed time."

"No, not yet, dad, please? I can't."

"Why?"

"I…I can't go to bed without knowing my punishment." She was going to be sixteen in a week and a half. That was far too old to be whining to her daddy about nightmares, especially when they were caused by her own poor choices. "I can't handle the suspense."

"That's not what's bothering you." She said nothing. Eric put his hand on her arm. "Georgia, what is it?"

"I'm afraid of having another dream! That's what made me come down here in the first place- I had a bad dream."

"About what happened tonight?"

She nodded. "Yeah, only ten times worse. I was in the car and behind the wheel, but I wasn't in control. It was like it had a mind of its own." She covered her face. "I was crashing into everything…and everybody. And it was all people I love. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't stop it."

"That does sound scary. I know when I first started driving I had dreams where-"

"Dad, I really don't want to talk about the dream. I just want to forget it. Tell me about my punishment."

"Like I said earlier, we don't know what exactly it will be yet, not all of it anyway. We only discussed bits and pieces."

"Could you tell me the bits and pieces you and mom agreed on?"

"You can find out in the morning. Be up and ready to leave by 7:45."

"Why? That's just a few hours away."

"I need to get a replacement tire and the shop opens at eight."

"Okay." She didn't exactly have room to argue.

"The cabs we'll be taking are coming out of your allowance."

"Fine."

"And one we get to the garage you're going to put the tire on."

Georgia's eyes grew wide. "What? Dad, I don't know how to do that."

"Then I guess it's a good thing you're learning. Everyone should know how to change a tire. I think I'm due for an oil change, too. I'll talk you through it."

"Oil change? Like, I have to get under the car?"

"Yep."

"Gross."

"And then after that-"

"There's an after that?"

"You took my car without permission and then you broke it- all without your license. We're just getting started."

Georgia slumped down in her chair. "I'm guessing this is all on top of however long I'll be grounded for?"

"Me and mom still need to talk that part out, but don't make plans on the weekends any time in the near future though."

"Between this and Trevor, my junior year will be off to a running start."

"Anyway, like I started to say, you know that hunk of metal your grandpa just bought and swears somewhere underneath the crud and bad paint job is a classic 1970 Chevelle?"

"What is that, some type of car?"

"Not just any car, the car of grandpa's dreams. He mentioned not too long ago he'd love to have someone help him restore it."

"Oh, no..."

Eric grinned at his daughter. "Yes!"

"Dad, that...that thing doesn't even have wheels on it."

"You can make sure he puts the wheels on since you did just win yourself a top spot as grandpa's little helper." He reached out and pinched her cheek.

"Gee, is that what my shirt is going to say?"

"It will now."

"But-"

"I'm calling him first thing in the morning. He's going to be thrilled."

"Dad-"

"No, Georgia, can you think of a better way there is for you to learn about cars, how they work, and how to respect them?"

"I don't know," she grumbled.

"Plus you know how much this kind of stuff means to grandpa. Maybe I'll even recruit Lucia, too, make it even more special for the old man. In fact-" He snapped his fingers. "I got it. Your T-shirts will say _Grandpa's Pit Crew_."

" _Daaaaad_..." She laid her head on the table.

"I'll even buy you matching hats."

"My life is over."

"I swear he's going to think it's his birthday. No, his birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the start of camping season all rolled into one!"

She groaned in frustration. "Why can't you just refuse to ever let me out of the house and drive again like any normal father would do?"

"Call me a normal father one more time and we'll see what happens." The changing numbers on the microwave caught his eye and Eric realized it was after two in the morning. "We should probably try to get at least a few hours of sleep."

"I don't know if I can. What if I have another dream?"

She'd voiced his unspoken fear. Going back to sleep petrified him. "Get a pillow and blanket and meet me in the living room."

"What?"

"Just do it. Meet me at the couch in five minutes."

Georgia eyed him cautiously, but did as she was told. She wasn't in a position to do otherwise. "If you say so."

Four minutes and fifty-two seconds later she was in the living room with her pillow and blanket and found her father fixing up half of the sectional for himself. "Dad, what are you doing?"

"Look, Georgia, I'm not going to pretend to be one of those dads that knows what they're doing all of the time, or even most of the time...some of- hell, I'm winging it nine times out of ten."

"If it means anything I've never been able to tell. I've always thought you were pretty cool, definitely better than my friends' dads."

"You know flattering me won't get you out of grandpa's garage, right?"

"I do now." She sighed. "I meant it though. You've always been a cool, fun dad."

"Thank you, but I still don't know what I'm doing. You and your sisters didn't come with instructions. And now there are boys and cars and a million other things that make me wish I had a time machine and could make you Rosie's age again." Eric took a seat on the couch. "Things were easier. Your problems weren't so big. I knew how to fix them...or at least I knew how to bullshit my way through it without you catching on and seeing I'm a fraud."

"You're not a fraud, but I'm growing up."

"I know."

"A giant bowl of Cocoa Puffs isn't going to fix everything anymore."

"That didn't stop you from eating it."

"I said it wouldn't fix things, not that it didn't help." She yawned and rested her head against his shoulder. "Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are we on the couch again?"

"Oh, right. Well, you know the part about me not knowing anything?"

"That's not exactly true, but okay."

"I think one thing I've always been pretty good at was dealing with bad dreams and keeping monsters away."

"What, did you get some _Monster-Be-Gone_ spray," she asked with a laugh.

He smiled at the memory of the little spray bottle filled with water and glitter. For a while after Lucia was born Georgia was convinced there were monsters in her room. Every night he and Angela would have to go on a monster hunt before putting her to bed. Some nights he'd end up sleeping in her room. In reality she was feeling replaced as the baby in the family and subconsciously seeking extra attention and reassurance. At least that's how his parents put it. "No, I didn't think to make any."

"I suppose it wouldn't work when the monsters are your own dumb mistakes, right?"

"We've all been there." He kissed the top of her head. "But what I meant was I can't fix everything, but maybe I can help us both get some sleep tonight. And, well...the couch definitely beats me sleeping on your floor armed with _Monster-Be-Gone_ and a baseball bat. Hand me the remote."

She passed it to him. "Oh, I get it. Tonight TV is our _Monster-Be-Gone_."

"It is for me. How else do you think I'm able to go to sleep at night after spending my evenings in a newsroom listening to all of the horrible things going on in the world?"

Georgia had never thought of her dad's job as being stressful before tonight. He reported the weather. So long as it wasn't stormy how bad could it be? "I don't know."

"We'll just watch funny reruns until we fall asleep."

"And that will work?" She moved to the other end of the couch and lie down.

"Why else do you think they have so many sitcoms on at this time?" Eric flipped through the channels until he found an episode of _Fresh Prince of Bel Air_ that fit the mindless brain candy bill needed for the night. "Ooh, here we go. It's the one where they film the music video in the living room when Uncle Phil and Aunt Viv are out of town. Light and fun." When she didn't respond he looked over and saw that she was already asleep. At least he was still good at chasing her monsters away. That was one small victory. He raised the volume slightly and sank deeper into the couch. Maybe the monsters would leave him to rest soon, too.


End file.
